If you rub a piece of PVC pipe with some wool and touch the PVC to Aluminum foil. Will the PVC be charged after rubbing it with wool?? Will the aluminum be charged? Finally can the PVC cause the aluminum to move. Please explain (hint: can the PVC give charge to the aluminum?)

i know the pvc will be charged through friction. i know the aluminum will be charged because it is transferred from the pvc. but i am not sure if the pvc can cause the aluminum to move.

When you rub a piece of PVC pipe with wool, the friction between them will cause electrons to be transferred from the PVC to the wool. This process leaves the PVC with a negative charge and the wool with a positive charge.

If you then touch the charged PVC to aluminum foil, some of the excess electrons on the PVC will transfer to the aluminum foil. This is because electrons tend to move from objects with higher electron density (in this case, the PVC) to objects with lower electron density (the aluminum foil). The transferred electrons will leave the aluminum foil with a negative charge.

As for whether the PVC can cause the aluminum to move, it depends on the circumstances. The simple act of touching the charged PVC to the aluminum foil won't directly cause the foil to move. However, if the aluminum foil is in close proximity to other charged objects, such as another charged PVC pipe or a positively charged object, there could be an electrostatic attraction or repulsion between the charges, which could cause the aluminum foil to move.

In summary, rubbing a piece of PVC pipe with wool will charge the PVC and result in the transfer of charge to the aluminum foil upon contact. However, the PVC alone cannot directly cause the aluminum foil to move unless there are additional charged objects nearby that would interact with the charges.

To answer your questions, we need to understand the concept of static electricity. When you rub PVC (a type of insulator) with wool (a type of conductor), electrons transfer from the wool to the PVC due to the friction between them. This transfer of electrons makes the PVC negatively charged, while the wool becomes positively charged.

Now, when you touch the charged PVC to aluminum foil (another conductor), the excess electrons on the PVC are attracted to the aluminum foil. As a result, the aluminum foil becomes charged as well but with a positive charge because it gains electrons from the PVC, which has a negative charge.

Regarding the movement of aluminum foil due to PVC, it is important to note that the charges on the PVC and the aluminum foil will tend to redistribute or neutralize each other. Like charges repel each other, so the negatively charged PVC and positively charged aluminum foil will exert a repulsive force. However, since aluminum foil is light and thin, the repulsive force may not be strong enough to cause noticeable movement.

In summary, the PVC will be negatively charged after rubbing it with wool, and the aluminum foil will become positively charged when it comes into contact with the charged PVC. While the repulsive forces between the similarly charged objects may not cause significant movement in the aluminum foil, there will be a redistribution of charges between them.